Salisbury successful in bid for funding

The Department of Health has today announced that a project proposed by Salisbury District Hospital, “Caring for Older People” has been successful in securing funding of over £800,000 as part of a national scheme to improve the care given to people with dementia. This money will be used to redesign 2 of the hospital’s wards where older people are cared for to make the environment more dementia friendly.

Tracey Nutter, Director of Nursing and Project Lead says, “The main part of Salisbury District Hospital is almost 21 years old now. In that time, we have learned so much about how to use interior design to support patient care, and this can be particularly effective when people are confused or suffer from dementia”.

The team at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust have built up a wealth of experience having worked on a number of projects, and achieved outstanding results in recent years which means they are well placed to deliver the objectives of this proposal. Some of the improvements that are planned include making bed spaces more personal, having more social areas to encourage interaction, making sure that floors don’t have shiny surfaces, using colours to help prevent people from getting lost and improving the lighting in ward areas.

One of the conditions of securing the funding is that the Trust has committed to sharing its learning with other NHS hospitals, and this is something that the team in Salisbury are more than happy to do.

Notes to editors:

More than a hundred hospitals and care homes across England have been awarded a share of a £50 million fund to create pioneering care environments designed for the needs of people with dementia.

Applications for funding through this programme were around three times oversubscribed.Salisbury District Hospital is one of 42 successful NHS applicants

The projects will form part of the first national pilot to showcase the best examples of dementia friendly environments across England, to build evidence of the type of changes that have the most benefit for dementia patients.